Laggards or leaders in technology?

IS LUXURY KEEPING pace with technology? Is the high-end customer experience being elevated by A.I.? Can digital experiences deliver more personalised and exclusive services while still preserving a luxury brand's integrity? No, no, and yes, answers a new paper co-authored by NUS Business School marketing professor Jochen Wirtz.

Together with his counterparts Jonas Holmqvist of Kedge Business School in France and Martin P Fritze of University of Cologne in Germany, Prof Wirtz conducted about a dozen interviews with managers of luxury firms. They found that, compared to other retail sectors, luxury brands have been much slower and more cautious in adopting technological features for their stores and in their interactions with customers.

The paper cites the instance of Chanel which still refuses to sell high fashion online. In 2019, its fashion president Bruno Pavlovsky stated that Chanel wants to bring emotions to its customers through the in-store interaction, and that the "spirit of the maison" is best found in its boutiques.